Lent.

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you – I, whom you have redeemed.

(Psalm 71: 23)

The purpose of a redemptive act is to save a person or thing from captivity or loss. As Christians we believe we have been redeemed by God by the blood of Christ. For what purpose? How do we respond?

How do we show thanks for this unmerited love?

Our response can take many forms. We know that we are all to put God first, others second, display the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and use wisely the gift that the Spirit gives us, etc. But how does this apply specifically to me or to you.

One of the ways in my life has been to share time and resources in the fight against hunger. At one time this included gleaning at a Harvest of Hope at the farm of a local university..

As things changed, it became more about helping at food drops, gleaning at farmer’s markets and retailers, repacking food, and the like. Though it all has been the opportunity to support these efforts with prayer and gifts.

In a sense, all these activities lead to saving – that is, redeeming – food from loss and redirecting it to God’s children who for whatever reason would otherwise go without.

Prayer: Dear God thank you for redeeming me. Help me to live my life so that it is a pleasing response to your love. Amen.

This devotional was written by Alvin Jenkins and read by Joey Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.